Five AM
by Juliet's Shadow
Summary: Five AM. It's possibly the worst time to be up doing laundry, but considering the girl was wearing her last pair of underwear and the guy was recycling his shirt for the third time, they were both painfully aware laundry needed to be done. Modern Day. One-Shot. Finnick and Annie meet one another. Love can blossom anywhere.


Five AM. It's possibly the worst time to be up doing laundry, but considering the girl was wearing her last pair of underwear and the guy was recycling his shirt for the third time, they were both painfully aware laundry needed to be done. There was a dilemma, though. No washing machines on the college campus opened up until one in the morning. They were both screwed. They both had class the next day, but the girl knew she was going to email her two professors for the next day and just tell them she was sick, which could be true, if menstrual cramps were a sickness. The guy was going to skip and claim to be hungover, which was halfway true. It was the week after midterms and, as a celebration, he and his roommate had a few drinks. Not enough to actually be hungover, but enough to claim he was. Both were mad at the situation and both were ready to go to bed. So, when they went to the laundry room at five am to get their last loads of laundry out of the dryers, neither of them expected to see anyone else in there.

The girl was in there first. She had two of the dryers, adjacent to one another. She had gotten the first load she did an hour before. She was unloading the colors, pulling out a pair of rather lacy pink underwear, when the guy came in. He looked away from the girl, it was obvious she was tired, with her red, plaid, fleece, flannel pajama pants that looked like Christmas, and messy long brown hair that fell limply down her back, a bit of smeared mascara underneath her glasses that were obviously only worn at night, and green t-shirt with a somewhat familiar logo on it. It took him a second to place the logo, but when he did, he smiled. "Legend of Zelda, huh?"

The girl took out her headphones he didn't notice she was wearing. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"You like Legend of Zelda?" He hadn't met too many girls on campus who would display video games on t-shirts.

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm not very good at it, though. I like it more for the story line."

The guy nodded. "Fair enough." He pulled some of his laundry out of the dryer and turned his attention back to the girl. "I'm Finnick, by the way."

She smiled. "Annie."

They continued to pull clothes out until Finnick spoke up again. "So why are you doing laundry so late? Or early, if you're that kind of person."

She smiled. "I haven't gone to sleep yet, so it's late. I had a sorority meeting earlier and I am desperate for clean clothes. It's just been a busy couple of weeks. You?"

Finnick just shrugged. "I'm just lazy." They finished getting their laundry out of the dryers and started to head out. "I'll walk you back to your apartment, if you'd like."

Annie smiled, but shook her head. "I'm literally right there," she gestured to a first floor apartment with a group of pumpkins and a welcome mat outside it, an autumn wreath hanging on the door.

"Well now I know the mystery of who lives in the apartment with the bright orange curtains." Annie hated leaving the blinds down, so it was easy to see the curtains from the outside. There was a large bush blocking the patio, though, so it was difficult to see inside the apartment itself. Finnick would know. He tried looking on on a few occasions. He was wondering what kind of girls lived there.

Annie gave a smile and the two separated, Finnick walking to his own apartment, which was only slightly farther than hers, and thinking about her, for some reason. He shoved his clothes in his drawers and passed out.

Annie took a bit longer. She put her basket on the living room floor and tried to do a bit of folding, before giving in and going to bed, leaving a note for her roommate promising her she would get her clothes out of the living room the next day.

Finnick woke up the next morning to the sound of his alarm clock making the continuous, annoying beeping sound it was famous for. He hit the power off button and rolled over and went back to sleep.

Annie forgot to set her alarm clock and woke up ten minutes before class started. She rolled over and went back to sleep, deciding sleep and health was more important that political science.

The two ran into one another a couple of weeks later. It was midnight and Annie was carrying a teal laundry basket and Finnick was carrying a black net bag, both of them were completely filled with clothes. "Laundry day?" Finnick asked.

Annie nodded. "Yeah. I'm hoping to get done before five this time."

Finnick nodded. "Me too."

The loaded adjacent washing machines, Annie taking up four machines, colors, darks, lights, and towels, and Finnick taking over one. Annie poured sweet bright blue detergent into the four machines, followed by purple fabric softener and green scented pellets. Finnick threw a bit of detergent in there and called it good. They both could have gone back to their dorms, wait for the laundry there, but they both stayed. "Want a pop?" Finnick asked Annie.

Annie smiled. "What?"

"Want a pop?"

She laughed. "I heard you. It's just the fact you said pop."

Finnick smiled. "It's better than what you guys say down here. Not every pop is a coke, you know."

Annie shrugged. "I'll take a coke. Mountain Dew, please?"  
Finnick rolled his eyes, but smiled. He bought them each a Mountain Dew from the soda machine in the corner and presented one to her.

She smiled. "Thanks. So what made you come down here for school, then?" Annie looked at Finnick with some of the prettiest almond shaped eyes he had ever seen. He was mesmerized by how soft and shiny her chocolate colored hair looked. He just wanted to take a strand and play with it, he decided against it, though, and answered her question.

"I came for the beach."

Annie smiled. "I guess that's a good reason." Texas A&M Corpus Christi was on it's own island, a beach on every side. A lot of people came for that reason.

"What about you? What brought you here?"

"The theatre program." Annie had a small smile take over her face and Finnick was mesmerized.

"Really? I wouldn't have pegged you as a theatre person." Annie gave him an inquisitive look. "You're really shy and your hair looks like it's its natural color."

Annie shrugged. "Well, I'm not that shy once you get to know me."

Finnick smiled. "So we'll get to know one another then?"

"I guess?" She was laughing as she spoke. She took a sip of her bright green soda and looked as if she remembered something important. "How much do I owe you for this?"

Finnick was about to say it was nothing, but a better idea came into his head. "How about you pay me back by going on a date with me?"

Annie looked taken aback. "A date?"

Finnick shrugged. "Why not? It could be fun."

Annie smiled. "Alright, then." She gave him her phone number and the two kept talking. They finished laundry before five in the morning, but they stayed up that late, just talking to one another.

Five am. It's possibly the worst time to be up doing laundry, but Finnick and Annie didn't mind. Five AM is just as good as anytime when one meets their soulmate.

 **This idea came to me when I was up at five in the morning doing laundry. Thought is was a cute concept. Please leave a review and tell me what you think!**

 **With Love,**

 **-Juliet**


End file.
